


Sink

by BabylonsFall



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Bathing/Washing, Couch Cuddles, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Injuries, Non-Sexual Intimacy, kinda? I don't know how else to tag that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:41:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22611166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BabylonsFall/pseuds/BabylonsFall
Summary: Eddie has a close call out on a call-out. He's fine, but bruised to hell and back, and kind of just wants to relax. Good thing Buck's there to make sure he does just that.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Comments: 14
Kudos: 351





	Sink

**Author's Note:**

> Writer's block sucks. Have some h/c and cuddles I wrote to make myself feel better about it.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Everything ached. _Everything_.

Eddie honestly hadn’t even known that was possible.

Sure, he’d been bruised up to hell and back before. Even made a few passable attempts at bruised and bloody, with a couple broken bones, just to spice things up. But, god, that hadn’t _ached_.

And honestly? He blamed his age.

Twenty-two year olds didn’t seem to have a problem bouncing back from the stupid shit. The thirty he was had done the bouncing back a couple too many times and now, bouncing _off_ the cement seemed to be testing his limits.

He hissed softly as he stepped into the hot water, sinking down slowly until he could lean back against the side of the tub and just...melt.

He knew if he looked down, he’d see skin blooming red in the heat, curling around the smattering of deep purple and green, and honestly, the mix just sounded horrendous, so he tilted his head back against the cool tile and closed his eyes instead. He didn’t need to see it. He could _feel_ it, just fine.

That said, the heat was doing absolute wonders as it slowly but surely warmed him down to his bones, helping untense muscles that had been locked and braced since right before the heat swell had pushed him into the concrete.

Eddie startled slightly when someone knocked lightly at the door, the sound muffled in the steamy bathroom. Huffing softly, he dragged a hand down his face, grimacing at the water he’d forgotten about. Guess the heat was working a little too well if he was dozing off. “Yeah?” He called, voice low and rough with drowsiness.

“Just me.” Buck called back, before opening the door enough to peek inside. “Mind if I come in, or you just gonna snap at me again?”

And Eddie did feel a little bad about that. Buck hadn’t pushed when they’d gotten back to the station and Eddie had already been limping around like an old man, but as soon as they’d gotten home, he’d been all up in Eddie’s space, trying to get him to sit with a couple ice packs, and just _relax_. And Eddie might’ve gotten annoyed. Just a touch. He’d just wanted to hang out with his kid and his boyfriend without being reminded of how shit a day he’d had, and he was already in enough pain that he couldn’t _not_ be reminded about it, and Buck buzzing around constantly bringing attention to it had just...grated. And he’d reacted like...well, like a spoiled toddler if he was being honest. He’d regretted it immediately of course, and had acquiesced when Buck had told him to go take a bath instead of moping. He’d take care of getting Chris to bed.

Groaning softly, he sinks lower in the tub. Maybe if he sinks low enough, he won’t have to answer, as he’ll be too busy with the equivalent of smothering his face in a pillow.

Buck snorts at him before slipping in, closing the door behind him. “Oh, don’t give me that face Diaz. Neither of us are exactly pleasant to be around when we’re less than 100%.” He sounds amused at least, so Eddie risks a sideways glance. Buck’s grinning at him. And he feels his shoulders relax, just that little bit. And just a little bit more when Buck slips over to sit on the ground next to the tub, facing him as he leans against the edge.

“While that’s definitely true, still, I’m sorry…” Eddie mumbles, because he has to, won’t feel right if he doesn’t.

“Mm...hey, you gonna look at me?” Buck asks, and Eddie doesn’t realize he’d looked away until Buck points it out. He looks over immediately though, humming happily when Buck leans over enough to steal a quick peck that does more to help him melt into the heat than the actual water had. “Apology accepted. How’re you doing?”

And Eddie takes a moment to consider how to answer, taking stock of everything for the first time beyond Hen’s assessment of ‘nothing’s broken, but you look like you lost a fight to a truck’. He still aches, the heat having managed to leech away the pain to a dull throbbing rather than the rolling waves it had been earlier. He can move without anything in particular flaring, which seems like a miracle in and of itself. “Remind me not to turn my back on gas leaks…”

“Right, because those are super easy to spot in a burning building. That was a pretty impressive belly flop though.” Buck says, grinning brightly at the dirty look Eddie shoots him. There’s a dullness to his eyes though that Eddie doesn’t like, despite knowing there’s not a whole lot he can do about it. He’d heard Buck’s voice cracking over the radio. They all had. Was pretty sure he’d be hearing it in his nightmares for awhile yet.

He’d also heard the broken thread to his laugh when Hen had given her professional medical opinion, and he’s pretty sure Hen had too, if the look she’d shot him was anything to go by.

Eddie had gotten ridiculously lucky today, and they all knew it. “Shame no one caught it on camera.” He says, sarcastically, instead of admitting it. And the laugh Buck barks out is harsh, but real, and Eddie’ll take it.

“Oh, buddy, they absolutely did. Remember the helicopter above us?”

Eddie blinks, then groans again, clapping his hand over his eyes. He had completely forgotten about that.

He doesn’t quite have the energy to jump when he feels a hand on his thigh, but he does peek through his fingers, raising an eyebrow. Buck doesn’t seem to notice, gently running his hand over Eddie’s skin with no rhyme or reason, looking lost in thought.

And there’s...there’s something _grounding_ in that touch, something that Eddie’s been needing ever since he blinked that morning and found the world spinning and heard Buck in his ears in a way he never wants to again.

There’s no claim to that touch beyond a soft, encompassing gentleness that quietly presses into the blossom of bruises that stretch from his knee to his hip.

And the bath is nice. It’s doing wonders for his muscles and the bruises. But Eddie really, really wants to get out now. If only because the damn tub isn’t big enough for two.

He gently shoos Buck out, even though he feels the loss of that touch like a spike of ice directly through to the bone, tells him he’ll be out in a minute. And Buck huffs at him, grumbling the whole time - but there’s also a relaxed slope to his shoulders that Eddie hasn’t seen all day, and a quirk to his lips that looks real in the muddled light of the bathroom, so Eddie ignores him for now, and sets about hauling himself up and out of the bath without an audience.

Once he’s changed into a pair of sweats that are a little too long in the ankles, and a hoodie he doesn’t remember buying but that’s way too damn soft to question it, he shuffles out to the living room.

Buck’s already stretched out, having changed into comfier clothes for lounging around as well, and the tv’s already playing whatever movie Chim’s suggested to them last. Eddie has no idea. Knows neither of them is probably going to be awake long enough to make sense of it anyway.

He doesn’t even ask - doesn’t _need_ to, and isn’t that a thrill, in and of itself? - before dropping carefully into Buck’s space. It takes a couple moments of both of them trying to awkwardly shuffle around long limbs and heavy forms without putting too much strain on already fragile bodies, but they manage, eventually. Eddie ends up resting back against Buck’s chest, Buck’s arms low around his waist in an attempt to avoid the worst of the bruising under his shirt, and Eddie…

Eddie can’t do anything but melt back into Buck’s heat, down into Buck’s arms. He hums when he feels careful fingers stroking lightly at the curve of his hip, the stretch of skin up to his ribs, still so gentle. Pressing no other claim but _mine_ into skin still heat-soft and so, so damaged. He smiles, and lets himself sink.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Kudos and comments are always loved, and so, so appreciated!


End file.
